The White House has said that it is moving on from recent controversy over the mistaken sharing of war plans on commercial messaging app Signal, declaring that the “case has been closed”.
Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that steps had been taken to ensure that the same scenario – which made Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic, privy to a group chat on planned US strikes on Yemen’s Houthis – was not repeated in the future. But she did not elaborate on the measures.
Leavitt said the US was “moving forward”, her statement appearing to end speculation that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who invited the journalist to the chat, and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, who shared the sensitive information, would be punished.
Democratic lawmaker Madeleine Dean accused Republicans of showing a “weakness of thought” by deflecting away from the “blunders” of the so-called Signalgate controversy.
“The Trump Administration’s mishandling of sensitive military plans was a staggering failure,” she wrote in a social media post. “Republicans have devolved into ‘what-about-ism.’ It’s time for accountability. It’s time for answers.”
As the White House attempted to close the embarrassing chapter, US President Donald Trump renewed his threats to the Houthis, targeted over attacks against Israel and Red Sea shipping lanes conducted in support of Gaza, promising to hit them “harder and harder”.
Houthi leaders have denied US claims that their capabilities have been degraded by attacks, saying that the strikes have only managed to kill civilians and administrative officials.
“The choice for the Houthis is clear: Stop shooting at US ships, and we will stop shooting at you,” said Trump in a social media post. “Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Houthis and their sponsors in Iran.”
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